Senior Portfolio Manager

From our first store in the 1960s, a little Taunton shop with great clothes and even better prices, to an omni-channel business serving millions of customers… we're New Look.
 

Our purpose is always to inspire That New Look Feeling and we believe that starts with us. Our values motivate us every day: we play to win, we’re customer-obsessed and we work as one.

The Role:

Responsible for driving, prioritising and managing a portfolio of large-scale, cross-functional transformation initiatives (most often leveraging technology) to enhance business performance and deliver strategic priorities at New Look.
This role requires a blend of strategic leadership, portfolio management expertise, and deep understanding of both business and technology landscapes to successfully lead digital transformation efforts. The ideal candidate will oversee the prioritisation and alignment of solutions with business objectives, ensuring investments are delivered on time, within scope, and with maximum value realisation.
The role will be required to manage and prioritise a bi-modal portfolio (i.e., deliverable by traditional and agile delivery approaches), based on best fit for outcome. Therefore, strong and hands-on experience of managing a mixed and fast-moving portfolio and, specifically, agile ways of working, is a major prerequisite.

Responsibilities:

The role will need deliver fluid, consistent and/or planned communications on both the ‘demand’ and ‘supply’ sides of the portfolio ensuring there is:
• On the demand-side, accurate and timely visibility of information regarding business transformation requirements and outcomes. This will be comprised of initiatives of varying complexity and scale that may also require us to consider the best fit approach for delivery, i.e., more traditional delivery approaches like waterfall vs. a faster-paced, incremental approach, i.e., agile.
• On the supply-side, visibility of available capabilities and capacity to fulfil business demand. This will take the form of a blended in-house New Look and 3rd party partner capabilities, sourced through Technology and business teams and comprising of mixed inhouse and 3rd party partner capabilities.
The role will also need to have experience of managing conflicting requirements and optimising, wherever possible, the overall return on investment for the portfolio as well as individual initiatives. Therefore, strong commercial, decision-making and stakeholder management skills are critical

Portfolio Management:
Lead and manage the entire New Look transformation portfolio plan, including prioritisation, resource allocation, and performance monitoring.
Oversee multiple transformation initiatives that span across various business units and functions.
Ensure initiatives are aligned with the strategic goals and compliance requirements of the organisation, deliver measurable value, and achieve intended business outcomes.
Strategic Leadership:
Collaborate with senior leadership to develop and execute a transformation roadmap that clearly demonstrates a holistic approach to delivering transformation initiatives for optimised ROI and is aligned and synchronised with functional, architectural, technology, etc., roadmaps
Translate business goals into actionable delivery strategies, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives.
Serve as a trusted advisor to business and stakeholders, ensuring that initiatives are grounded in best practices and innovation.
Delivery Assurance:
Drive higher probability of successful delivery on critical outcomes and value to time, cost and quality by conducting pre-kick-off deliverability and risk reviews for critical projects to help ensure they are set up for success from the outset
Provide an objective, independent review of a project's progress, performance, and alignment with business goals.
Ensure the scalability and sustainability of technology transformations to meet future business needs.
Stakeholder Engagement & Communication:
Build strong relationships with business leaders, technology teams, and external partners to ensure cross-functional collaboration and alignment.
Serve as the primary point of contact for the portfolio, regularly communicating progress, risks, and outcomes to executive leadership and key stakeholders.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement and change management across the organisation.
Lead the adoption of agile, DevOps, and other modern methodologies to accelerate the delivery of technology solutions.
Risk Management & Governance:
Establish governance frameworks to monitor, evaluate, and mitigate risks associated with transformation initiatives.
Ensure adherence to compliance standards, regulatory requirements, and organisational values, policies and principles throughout the transformation lifecycle.
Lead continuous monitoring of portfolio risks, working with delivery leadership teams to make proactive adjustments to avoid disruptions and optimise performance.
Financial Oversight:
Manage the financial performance of the transformation portfolio, ensuring budgetary constraints and opportunities are clearly understood and adhered to and value is delivered in line with financial objectives.
Optimise resource allocation and capital expenditures to balance short-term business needs with long-term strategic goals.
Change Management:
Lead change management efforts to drive adoption of new portfolio ways of working across the organisation.
Develop and execute communication, training, and support plans to ensure seamless integration and buy-in from end-users for new ways of working.

About You:

Preferred Certifications:
7-10 years of experience in portfolio management, digital transformation, or business strategy roles.
Strong experience in portfolio management, particularly in managing multiple, cross-functional programs simultaneously and in a fast-moving environment.
Hands-on experience of managing bi-modal portfolios; in􀏐luencing and leveraging methods of delivery that best help to optimise value for our customers and the business, in line with business strategy
Proven track record of leading and managing complex technology-driven business transformation initiatives in large organisations

Skills & Competencies:

Expertise in both traditional and agile project management methodologies, including frameworks like Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall.
Strong understanding of digital technologies (cloud, data analytics, AI, automation) and how they drive business value.
Excellent leadership and communication skills with the ability to in􀏐luence and align cross-functional teams.
Financial acumen and experience in managing large budgets and driving ROI.
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to navigate complex organisational challenges.
High level of emotional intelligence and ability to lead change in a dynamic environment.

Why New Look?

The amazing people, the fashion – there are so many reasons to love working at New Look. We prioritise development, offering training to support your progression, so you can be your absolute best and achieve your goals. 

Being part of the New Look Team means you get access to a great range of benefits & perks …

👗        You’ll *love* our generous staff discount – 40% off for you and a loved one, and 25% off for up to 12 friends and family members!

🛍        Get special access to hundreds of discounts from top retailers and gyms, along with free workout classes, on our rewards platform Runway.

💰        Plan for you retirement while you work with our contributory private pension scheme.

💰        We’re all about celebrating our success, so we have a profit-related bonus scheme.

🚓         Upgrade your commute with our company car allowance – you can use it to buy, lease or fund your current vehicle.

🧸        Our family-friendly policies include enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave, and shared parental leave.

👩🏻‍⚕️  Receive quick access to consultations and treatments with AXA Private Medical Scheme, paid for by us.

✈        Big trip on the cards? Unlock extra leave with our buy more holiday scheme.

🎈        Celebrate YOU! Enjoy an extra paid day off on your birthday each year.

🚲        Do your bit for the environment and save money with our Cycle2Work scheme.

🚆        Spread the cost of your commute with interest-free season ticket loans.

🥣        Running late? No worries, enjoy a free breakfast on us!

❤         We're proud to partner with the Retail Trust and Fashion & Textile Children's Trust

Please note – these benefits and perks are non-contractual and may be changed from time to time.

Apply now to find out more!

We pride ourselves on being a flexible employer, our colleagues work a range of patterns. If you have a specific pattern in mind, we're keen to discuss this with you in line with the output needed for the role.   
   
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